My business Raffle Dog is a marketing company. We focus on social media promotion and direct marketing. I've basically just started this company and have only been online since May. This month I'll be creating my marketing material that I'll take around to small businesses.

I thought a creative way to get clients would be to go around and give them some free information. It would be a 10 Steps on Building Traffic Guide Online and Offline type of booklet. The first half would be all the free information and then the last half would be what my company offers and how we can help them. The free information will be valuable so hopefully they will keep around my manual and eventually call about our services.

Would giving away free info like this be a good way to land clients? Thanks for any advice given!

Hey thanks for the advice. I definietly agree. I'm going to make my marketing material and then on the back cover give a few tips but not too many. Just enough to help them out a little and get them interested in my services. I think it should be the perfect blend! Thanks!

Hi,Yes...giving free stuff is a great idea, and it must be done- or else, how would people know if they like our services or products, if they are not being exposed to them in some way?So, that said make sure that what you give them IS what they need... and not what you THINK they need.To find out what they really want, you need to make some market research.

I am not referring to months and months of conducting market research... or spend thousands of dollars doing it...but- do spend some good hours searching and to do this- use internet tools which are free. There you can find what the targeted customer desires, fears and dreams.Once you do this, you can give the freebies that they are looking for...and will desire to look further into your business. Why? Because if the freebies have not value in their eyes...then-your service will just be one more of the many that are out there trying to get their attention.One more note- if you cannot think of ways of doing your market research...just ask me and I will explain further.IA

If you are a new marketing company specializing in social media then that would be the way to market yourself, wouldn't it?

Give away the free information in the form of informative, attention-getting blogs with links back to your more extensive offerings. Link to other similar blogs and they will typically link back to you, increasing your audience. It also increases your potential customer base beyond just locals.

Visit websites like smallbusinessforum or entrepreneur and join in their discussion groups and forums to promote your services via offering free advice.

Hey thanks for all the great information! I actually just created my marketing material (brochure and business cards) and included some free tips on the back cover. It is valuable social media tips that most business could use. I think creating a blog about local social media is a great idea to include on my site. The brochures are still printing so I'll have some time to create this!

My market is any local business (restaurants, small shops) and what they need is to create and/or expand their social network. I think free information on what they can do to improve that would be useful. Maybe a new tip every week on my blog. It took a while for me to develop this whole business and I'm finally at the point where I can go sell my services.

The main way I perform any research is online. Social media for local businesses isn't the most popular subject online but I have found some great information. In the next few months I'm hoping to learn a lot from the companies that use my services and this will translate into information for my blog.

Again thanks for the great answers! If anyone has a storefront and wants to try our campaign we're offering discounts for the next few months.

People like to get free stuff. They are attracted to the magnetic FREE word. It is a common marketing strategy to get people's attention but it is a good one, because both sides get what they want. The one who is offering something free gets his leads and "potential" clients get "free information" that has some value to them.

My business Raffle Dog is a marketing company. We focus on social media promotion and direct marketing. I've basically just started this company and have only been online since May. This month I'll be creating my marketing material that I'll take around to small businesses.

I thought a creative way to get clients would be to go around and give them some free information. It would be a 10 Steps on Building Traffic Guide Online and Offline type of booklet. The first half would be all the free information and then the last half would be what my company offers and how we can help them. The free information will be valuable so hopefully they will keep around my manual and eventually call about our services.

Would giving away free info like this be a good way to land clients? Thanks for any advice given!

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